


Kiss-Cam

by Tyler_SteeleA7X



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Borderline crack, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Homophobia, M/M, OFC - Freeform, Who Doesn't Love a Good LOTR Reference, a lil' bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22703173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyler_SteeleA7X/pseuds/Tyler_SteeleA7X
Summary: “Oh, my God, that’s amazing,” Charlie says, still cracking up. Jake leans over and kisses the side of Charlie’s helmet. The crowd gives them a standing ovation.“Love you, babe,” Jake says, jokingly.“Love you too, babe,” Charlie replies, just as sarcastically.Or: Five times where Jake and Charlie kiss, and one time where it actually matters
Relationships: Jake DeBrusk/Charlie McAvoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	Kiss-Cam

**Author's Note:**

> BIG RED FLAG FOR HOMOPHOBIA, BE WARNED
> 
> This fic was inspired by one of the first hockey games I went to (Providence Bruins) when the kiss-cam dude decided to show two of the players on the bench and one kissed the other on the helmet. It was pretty hilarious, but sadly, I can’t remember who they were since they were on the other team.
> 
> Also
> 
> This is entirely a work of fiction and all OC’s (Charlie’s parents, Charlie’s girlfriend, and Jake’s girlfriend) are completely my own creation and not in any way based on either Charlie or Jake’s real parents/girlfriends. But you knew that; I’m just writing this so I can sleep at night. Anyway, enjoy my poorly-written coping mechanism.

1

Ah, the Arizona Coyotes. No one knows why, but the Bruins just seem to win against them, no matter how good or bad either team is. This game is no exception, and morale on the bench is really high, especially after Pastrnak completed his hat trick early in the second, which marks the Bruins’ fourth unanswered goal and makes the score 4-1 Boston. That is until Jake DeBrusk pulls an absolute beauty and somehow, in some way, manages to outskate and shield the puck from _ Phil fucking Kessel _, allowing him to score a fucking no-look, between the legs, bar-down goal. He doesn’t even see it go in, but he knows it was a goal as soon as he hears the ping of the puck hitting the crossbar and the crowd going ballistic. Not long afterward, he and the other Bruins on the ice head back to the bench for a change, and there’s a TV timeout.

Charlie is the first one to talk to him about the goal. “Holy, like, holy fuck, dude,” he says, his jaw practically on the ground. “That was the best fucking goal I’ve ever seen, how the hell did you do that?”

Jake laughs and shrugs his shoulders. Honestly, he has no idea, it just kind of happened. He’s not exactly the kind of guy that plans out his every move in advance.

** _Boston goal by number 74, JAKE DeBRUSK!_ ** The loudspeakers blare, and Charlie gives him a side bro-hug for his incredible effort. Suddenly, the crowd starts screaming even louder than before. They look up at the jumbotron and see the kiss-cam showing none other than Charlie with his arm slung over Jake, causing them to burst out laughing.

“Oh, my God, that’s amazing,” Charlie says, still cracking up. Jake leans over and kisses the side of Charlie’s helmet. The crowd gives them a standing ovation.

“Love you, babe,” Jake says, jokingly.

“Love you too, babe,” Charlie replies, just as sarcastically.

They win the game 6-1, and it feels fucking fantastic. But, of course, the first thing that the guys talk about after the game is the damn kiss-cam.

“You guys, that was hilarious,” Kurls says, still kind of in disbelief that it actually happened.

“I fucking dare you to post a photo looking like a couple,” Krug adds, causing Jake and Charlie to laugh at the thought. The team continues to talk about it until the media arrives and they all try to weasel their way out of an interview, but unfortunately, Jake knows he’s not going to get out of one this time.

“Take us through that goal you scored in the second,” one reporter asks. Hey, at least it’s not about the kiss-cam. Jake answers this question and a few other normal ones before getting the inevitable “What was going through your mind when you saw you and Charlie McAvoy on the jumbotron?”

“Oh, I thought it was hilarious,” Jake replies, a smile on his face. “We both did. I think I called him ‘babe’ after, too.” That causes the reporters to chuckle.

“What did he say about that?” someone asks.

“He said it back,” Jake says, trying and failing to look serious. The reporters are all still laughing. They move on before long, and he is free to leave.

The next day, there’s a bunch of stuff within the Bruin’s community referencing the whole kiss-cam thing. Both Jake and Charlie keep getting tagged on posts like “Find you someone that looks at you the way DeBrusk looks at McAvoy” above an out of context photo, and it’s pretty funny, to be completely honest. They keep texting each other with screenshots of the best memes they’ve seen about it, and some of them are even from their own teammates (mostly Marchy). Charlie also mentions that he watched Jake’s post-game interview to see if he said anything about it, and they both agree that the interview is probably the biggest reason the whole couple meme started in the first place.

* * *

2

It’s the Bruins’ first game back after a western road trip. Luckily, there was time to recuperate before their first of a stretch of three home games, so the team isn’t feeling too tired. They’re playing pretty well against the Jets, but both teams are getting good chances, and after one period of play it’s 2-1 Boston. Jake and Charlie are sitting next to each other on the bench after their shifts ended, and Jake looks up at the big screen.

“Oh my God, Chuck, look,” Jake tells Charlie while elbowing him lightly to get his attention.

“What?” 

“Look up.”

“Oh God,” Charlie says, cracking a smile. It’s the fucking kiss-cam. “You don’t think they’d do it again, would you?”

“I don’t know, we _ are _ sitting next to each other,” Jake replies. Just as he says that, he and Charlie appear on the screen, and the crowd screams even louder than the first time. “Here, kiss me on the cheek,” Jake says while tapping the side of his face with two fingers. And that’s just what Charlie does. The crowd goes absolutely ballistic, and both of them immediately start thinking of what to say in their post-game interview when they’ll inevitably be asked about this later.

The Bruins win the game 4-2. Everyone starts pouring into the locker room, giving each other high-fives and stuff as they go. 

“I ship it!” Carlo yells after Jake and Charlie share a bro hug.

“Seriously, this thing is going to be the next storm surge,” Marchy says from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, so get creative,” Krug adds. Charlie laughs and rolls his eyes.

He and Jake both end up getting caught by the media, so they take advantage of it.

“So you and Jake… is this going to become a regular thing?” someone asks Charlie.

“Absolutely,” Charlie replies, smiling. “Yeah, I mean, you gotta give the people what they want, ourselves included.” He gives a little wink at the end, causing the reporters to laugh.

“What do your teammates think?” someone else asks.

“Yeah, they support it. They’ve been tagging us in a bunch of stuff about it, so you could say it’s been a pretty hot topic of conversation lately. Marchy said it’s gonna be the next storm surge,” he says. Oh boy, Twitter is going to have fun with this.

“Have you gotten any backlash?” Ok, that one’s a bit too far, so Charlie decides to rein it in a little.

“No, not that I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure most people find it entertaining, it became kind of a meme,” he replies. Luckily, the rest of the questions are about hockey, so he just answers them as he normally would and goes home.

The following day, the Bruins don’t have practice or a game scheduled, so Charlie has plenty of time to check Twitter. Marchy had already posted a gif of him winking at the camera while talking to the media, and Gryz had tagged him and Jake asking when the wedding will be and if he can be the best man, to which Jake sarcastically replied with “No, that’s already Bergy, but you can be bridesmaid :)” Even the NHL Twitter account posted a video of them with the caption “don’t forget to tell someone you love them today! ❤️,” which Jake apparently had already retweeted. Just as he sees this, Charlie gets a text from Jake.

_ Jake _: hey bro, how’s it going? 💖

_ Charlie _: Haha it’s going good, just scrollin thru twitter

_ Jake _: lol me too

_ Jake _: There’s some amazing shit on here ngl

_ Charlie _: And Gryz is gonna be our bridesmaid!

_ Charlie _: Even though that’s not even possible lol

_ Jake _: Anything is possible through the power of bromance 😘!!!!

_ Charlie _: Hahahaha

_ Charlie _: Now I’m picturing Gryz in a dress lmao

_ Jake _: Omg that’s amazing

_ Jake _: Hey u wanna hang?

_ Charlie _: Sure thing, where u wanna go?

_ Jake _: I was gonna work out a bit, u down?

_ Charlie _: Ugggh on our off day? Fiiiiine

_ Jake _: Yaaaay :)

With that, Charlie sets his phone down and goes to work out with Jake. Later on, they join up with Heino and Kurls for a beer and for some good-natured chirping about Jake and Charlie’s whole situation before returning to their own homes to call it a day.

* * *

3

A couple of weeks later, the Bruins are playing the Oilers in Edmonton. It’s the second period, and the Oilers are up 2-1. The chances seem pretty even, though, so the team isn’t too worried yet. The veterans are reminding the rest of the bench to keep their head in the game, and that they can get ahead if they focus. 

Everyone immediately loses focus once the kiss-cam comes on.

Pasta and Marchy are between Jake and Charlie, though, so they quickly move so that the two lovebirds can be together. They look at each other and start laughing.

“It’s not gonna happen on an away game, is it?” Charlie asks.

“I mean, you never know,” Jake says with a wink at the end, causing Charlie to roll his eyes.

Of course, they both end up on the big screen, causing the bench to start cheering and applauding. The crowd does the same.

“It’s your turn to kiss me,” Charlie says to Jake, who gives Charlie a little more than just a peck on his cheek. “Geez, a little overkill, don’t you think?” he asks Jake while chuckling.

“I mean, you gotta give the people what they want, right?” Jake replies, quoting what Charlie had said to the media earlier and causing him to laugh even more.

The Oilers end up extending their lead to 3-1, and Boston is only able to get the score to 3-2 before the game is over. No one is super disappointed, though, because it was a well-fought game that didn’t completely fuck up their team’s stats. The Bruins don’t have another game for four days, allowing everyone to get some much-needed down-time. Once they arrive back home, Charlie decides to not be a terrible boyfriend and text his actual girlfriend to set a time to go out for dinner. 

_ Charlie _: Are you free tomorrow night?

_ Ali 💜 _: Idk

Who replies to “are you free” with just “idk?” How do you even respond to that?

_ Charlie _: I was thinking we could go to that steakhouse you like

_ Ali 💜 _: Why?

_ Charlie _: Uh cause you’re my girlfriend lol. And it’s been a while since I took you to a nice dinner

_ Charlie _: Is everything okay?

_ Ali 💜 _: 😑

Uh, okay then.

_ Charlie _: Did I do something wrong?

_ Ali 💜 _: I guess not

Charlie has no idea what that’s supposed to mean. He figures she’s had a really shitty day or it’s that time of the month or something.

_ Charlie _: Do you still want to have dinner?

_ Ali 💜 _: Yeah ok

_ Charlie _: Can I pick you up at 7?

_ Ali 💜 _: Sure

_ Charlie _: Okay, see you tomorrow babe

_ Ali 💜 _: Bye

Okay, whatever. Charlie figures that she’ll be fine by tomorrow. But just as he’s about to put his phone away, he gets a text from Jake.

_ Jake _: BRO Gabby just gave the BEST idea for what we should do for our next kiss

Okay, if there’s one message that Charlie had never expected to receive, it would be one where Jake’s girlfriend has an idea for how they should kiss on camera. Life is wild.

_ Charlie _: Lmao what is it

_ Jake _: Okay, so it’s going to be you doing it to me

_ Charlie _: Ooof course

_ Jake _: And you’re gonna dip me behind the bench and make it look like you’re making out with me

_ Jake _: It’s gonna look so good

_ Charlie _: Omg that’s amazing

_ Charlie _: You have to make sure you sit next to me whenever we’re on the bench together

_ Jake _: Got it 👍

_ Charlie _: Wait so your girlfriend is chill with all this lmao

_ Jake _: Yeah she thinks it’s hilarious. The first thing she asked me when she found out was if you were a better kisser than her lol

_ Charlie _: Lmfao what did you say?

_ Jake _: I said you lol

_ Charlie _: Oh my god you’re such an idiot

_ Jake _: She couldn’t stop laughing lol

_ Charlie _: Lol if I ever said that to my girlfriend I would be burned at the stake

_ Jake _: She’s not a jokester, huh?

_ Charlie _: Nah, she’s my impulse control and I help her have fun. It’s a balance.

_ Charlie _: Although I think I might have made her mad or something

_ Jake _: How? Is it because of the whole us dating meme?

_ Charlie _: Idk, but she was just being weird when I was texting her. Like she didn’t want to reply to me or something

_ Charlie _: And then when I asked if I did something wrong she said “I guess not”

_ Jake _: Lol what does that even mean

_ Charlie _: I have no idea. She agreed to go get dinner tomorrow, though, so I’ll talk to her then.

_ Jake _: K. I hope everything goes well

_ Charlie _: Yeah me too

The next day, Charlie starts to get ready for his date. But just as he’s about to gel his hair back, he gets a text from Ali.

_ Ali 💜 _: Hey, Charlie. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it tonight.

_ Charlie _: That’s okay, we can reschedule. When are you free?

_ Ali 💜 _: I don’t know, I can get back to you tonight. I’ve been really busy lately

_ Charlie _: Ok. I hope you have a good day <3

No response. And to top it off, she doesn’t text Charlie later that night, either. He just decides to leave it at that and go over game footage by himself.

* * *

4

Over the course of the next week, Jake and Charlie make sure to always sit next to each other when they’re on the bench at the same time. The kiss-cam never comes on, though, and they start to get anxious that they won’t be able to carry out their plan.

That is, until one home game halfway into the third.

They’re playing the Hurricanes, and the Bruins had come back from being down 3-0 at the end of the first to being up 4-3 with ten minutes left in an effort to snap their four-game no-winning streak. Jake had just come back to the bench after an amazing second line shift and takes his spot on the bench next to Charlie.

“Finally, we’re on the bench together,” he says, sort of gasping for breath. “You get so much ice time nowadays that you’re always on a damn shift.” 

“What, you jealous?” Charlie chirps as he elbows Jake lightly in the side.

“Oh _ hell _ no, I’m exhausted as it is, thank you very much,” Jake says, chuckling a bit. 

The crowd suddenly starts screaming, and they look up to see that the kiss-cam is on the big screen. Jake and Charlie exchange knowing smirks and head nods. It’s showtime, baby. They patiently wait for their turn, and before long, it’s time to show the whole world (or at least, the whole NHL fanbase) what they came up with. Charlie dramatically dips Jake behind the bench, making sure to hide his face from the camera with his body, and the entire crowd absolutely fucking loses it. Even the guys on the bench start hollering when they see what’s happening. After a few seconds they sit up, and Jake pretends to be love-drunk, much to everyone’s amusement.

There’s a weird feeling in the pit of Jake’s stomach, a weird feeling that doesn’t go away. It’s a good weird, though; it almost feels like a combination of the feeling of waking up to your alarm and then realizing you can go back to bed and the giddy joy of getting a puppy for Christmas. It’s odd, and Jake can’t seem to place it, but it feels good, so he just lets it be. 

The Bruins end up winning the game 4-3, effectively snapping their losing streak. After the game is over and everyone can go home, Gabby calls Jake to talk to him about the whole kiss-cam thing. And by talk… let’s just say it’s more along the lines of hysterical and uncontrollable laughter to the point where Jake can hardly understand what she’s saying.

“Oh my… oh my God—oh my God I can’t—that was amazing,” she says, finally having calmed down enough to talk. “You should’ve seen the replay on TV, it looked great.”

“Did it? That’s awesome!” Jake says, happy that their plan turned out the way he had hoped.

“Yeah, it was hysterical. Jack Edwards couldn’t hold himself together!”

“I can’t wait to see the replay,” Jake replies.

“I’m sure the clip is already out, or you can just wait until the next Weird NHL episode,” Gabby says while looking it up on her phone. “Here, I found it, I’ll send it to you.”

Jake takes a few seconds to look at the video, and yeah, it looks realistic. “This is fucking incredible, thanks for giving us the idea!” he says while sending the video to Charlie. “I just sent it to Charlie, he’s gonna lose his mind.”

Sure enough, a few minutes after Gabby had hung up, Jake gets a reply from Charlie.

_ Charlie _: 😱😱😱

_ Charlie _: AAAAAH THAT’S FUCKING AMAZING

_ Jake _: Ikr!!!

_ Charlie _: Tell Gabby I said thank you for the idea lol

_ Jake _: Ok I’ll text her now

_ Charlie _: Dope

_ Charlie _: Hey I think I have an idea for the next time

_ Jake _: Oooooh I wanna hear it

_ Charlie _: So you know that necklace I always wear

_ Jake _: You mean the one you’re constantly choking yourself on?

_ Charlie _: Yeah that’s the one. Well, it’s not just a chain, it has a ring on it. The One Ring, to be specific. I’m sure you can figure out where this is going

_ Jake _: YESSSS OMG YOU SHOULD PROPOSE TO ME

_ Charlie _: I did the last one, you propose to me

_ Jake _: But it’s on ur neck how are we gonna do this?

_ Charlie _: I can give it to you before the start of each game, and you can maybe you could wear it under your glove and then take secretly take it off when they do the kiss-cam

_ Jake _: Yeah sure, as long as I don’t get into any fights lol

_ Charlie _: Don’t worry, we don’t play the Avs for like two months

_ Jake _: Why would it matter if we play the Avs?

_ Jake _: Oh yeah Kadri lol

_ Charlie _: Bingo

_ Charlie _: So you down with the plan?

_ Jake _: Absolutely. Let’s do this!!

_ Jake _: Hey I know this is off topic but how have things been going with Ali? Is she still mad at you?

_ Charlie _: Idk, we had to take a rain check on our last date and she hasn’t texted me since

_ Jake _: Try calling her maybe?

_ Charlie _: Ok I’ll do that now ttyl 👋

_ Jake _: Bye 👋

Charlie tries to call Ali, but she doesn’t pick up, so he leaves a message telling her to call back as soon as she can. He’s getting pretty antsy at this point since Ali has never completely ignored him like this. He decides to text Jake again and ask him what to do.

_ Charlie _: She didn’t answer. I think I really screwed something up

_ Jake _: I’m sure you guys will make up eventually. Just give it some more time

_ Charlie _: But she’s never ignored me for this long

_ Jake _: Maybe you should skip trying to schedule something and just go to her house and talk?

_ Charlie _: I probably should, but I’m scared

_ Jake _: Scared of what? If you don’t mind me asking

_ Charlie _: No it’s okay. I guess I’m just scared that she’s going to start screaming at me or something idk

That sets off a whole bunch of red flags in Jake’s brain. He tries to find the best and nicest way to say that maybe Charlie should break up with his girlfriend.

_ Jake _: I know it’s not really my place to say this, but that doesn’t sound like a super healthy relationship. Do you think you would both be happier if you started seeing other people?

_ Charlie _: Probably, but my parents would not be happy. They really want me to get married and so far I haven’t been able to keep a relationship for more than a month or so, and they keep accusing me of not even trying

_ Jake _: Dude

_ Charlie _: I know it’s a lot. Sorry for oversharing lol

_ Jake _: No don’t worry about it, I’m just sorry for you man. That sucks

_ Charlie _: Yeah

_ Jake _: You should be able to date whoever makes you happy, I hate that they’re forcing you to keep an unhealthy relationship. And you’re literally only 21, that’s still really early to get married

_ Charlie _: Yeah, I know. I’m not really sure what their problem is

Jake feels so bad for Charlie that he could cry. He had no idea that his parents were pressuring him so much into getting married, the poor guy must feel so trapped. Jake can hardly imagine the thought of getting married at his current age, and he’s older than Charlie. He tries to make the conversation a little more lighthearted by talking more about the thing they have planned for their next kiss-cam.

_ Jake _: Maybe they’ll be happy to see me propose to you lol

_ Charlie _: Haha maybe. I think my sisters unironically ship us now lmao

_ Jake _: Oh god, that must be interesting 😂

_ Charlie _: Oh it is

_ Charlie _: I think I’m going to go to bed. Gn 😴

_ Jake _: Goodnight 💤

Jake puts down his phone and… there that feeling is again, the one he had during the game, the happy, warm, fuzzy one. He still can’t really make sense of it, but it makes him want to smile and watch something goofy on tv, so that’s what he does. There are some old Full House episodes on, which are for some reason the perfect pairing for the unidentifiable mood he’s in now. But before long, he gets tired and decides to retire to bed for the night.

* * *

5

The next time Jake and Charlie head to practice, they can’t stop looking at each other and laughing. Soon, some of the guys catch on and start asking what’s up.

“What’s so funny over there?” Krej asks, amused by how goofy they’re being.

“Oh, nothing, just planning out what we’re gonna do for our next kiss-cam moment,” Charlie replies. This catches the rest of the team’s attention.

“I called it, I fucking called it, I told you it was gonna be the next storm surge,” Marchy chimes in. “So how are you gonna one-up yourselves this time?”

“It’s right here,” Charlie says as he takes off his necklace to reveal the ring. “I had ordered it on Amazon a while back, ‘cause you know, it’s the One Ring and it’s awesome. Jake’s gonna propose to me with it.” A bunch of ‘oohs’ echo across the room.

“Yeah, I’m gonna wear it under my glove or something and take it off whenever the kiss-cam comes on, and once it shows us, I’m gonna take it out and propose,” Jake says, unable to contain his smile. This plan is perfect.

“It’s probably not the best idea to wear a ring during a game,” says Zee, the ever-present voice of reason in the room. “But it would definitely be funny,” 

“Eh, as long as he doesn’t fight anyone he’ll be fine. Just stick to the face washes,” Wags replies.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Jake adds.

“Then it’s settled!” Charlie says, excited. “And no posting anything about it on social media ‘till it happens, got it?” Everyone nods in agreement.

Finally, after what seems like forever, the day comes when Jake and Charlie can finally carry out their plan. It’s during a home game against the Sabres, and the score is tied 2-2. The crowd is getting pretty intense, though, as a result of a few really good chances for Boston. It’s the perfect environment for a kiss-cam. Once it comes on, the crowd immediately goes wild and everyone stands up, waiting with bated breath to see what the Bruins power couple has come up with this time. Jake rushes to take off his glove and put the ring somewhere else without drawing too much attention to himself. After a minute or so, it’s finally their turn. Jake takes a deep breath and picks up the ring, trying his hardest to look serious and not burst out laughing. He and Charlie stand up, Jake takes his hands in his own, and gets on one knee, making sure that he’s still visible to the camera. Then, he grabs the ring and offers it to Charlie, who fans his eyes a bit and pretends to be emotional before sliding the ring on his finger and giving Jake a kiss on the cheek. The crowd is going absolutely nuts, and even the guys on the Sabres bench stand up and give them a round of applause with their sticks. That could not have gone any better, and Jake is relieved that he can finally stop wearing that damn ring every game.

The Bruins win in overtime to make the score 3-2

Charlie is still wearing the ring during his post-game interview, and one of the reporters asks him about it.

“Are you going to keep the ring?” The reporters all chuckle.

“Oh, absolutely. It’s the One Ring actually, so I can’t believe he gave it to me,” Charlie says as he makes eye contact with Jake across the room and smiles, causing him to walk over and sling an arm over Charlie’s shoulder. “I guess he just loves me that much,” he adds. He doesn’t mention the fact that it’s his ring in the first place.

“Do you know what you’re going to do next time?” another reporter asks.

Charlie and Jake look at each other, trying to see if the other one has an idea. Neither of them do, so they both just shake their heads. “No, I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.” Charlie replies. With that, Jake leaves and lets Charlie finish talking to the media about actual game stuff. After they’re gone, his teammates start to take their place, except they’re all hysterically laughing.

“Oh… my… God, that was fucking incredible. How the actual fuck are you going to top that?” Torey asks Charlie once he calms down enough to be able to speak.

“I mean, he could literally _ top _ that, if you catch my drift,” Marchy says with a smirk. Charlie goes completely red.

“I don’t know, I feel like Jake would be the one on top,” Torey replies, as if this is the most normal topic of conversation in the world.

“Hey, can we not argue about which one of us would ‘top it’? Thanks,” Charlie butts in, really not wanting to talk about this with Jake literally in the same room as him. But Jake seems pretty unshaken by the whole thing, save for a light blush tinting his cheeks, and is actually laughing along with everyone else. Charlie tries his best to laugh it off, too, but the blush on his cheeks refuses to go down, and his face continues to be red for the rest of the day.

* * *

+1

Charlie wakes up the next morning to a few texts from the guys, mostly just asking to meet up at some point in the day. But he’s much more concerned with what texts he hasn’t received, specifically from Ali. She’s been avoiding face-to-face contact for nearly a month now, and he knows that there’s likely no coming back from whatever he’s done. Maybe Jake was right, maybe breaking up would be for the better, but Charlie can’t stand another goddamn lecture from his parents about how he’s “avoiding commitment.” All his life, there’s been something they’d get on his case about, from not having enough friends in elementary schools (which they called “insufficient social interaction for proper development”) to his mediocre grades in middle school to his “weight gain” in high school (they refused to believe that gaining weight in muscle mass was a real thing) to his “fear of commitment” now that doesn’t actually exist. They always insist that it’s just because they want him to be the best person he can be, but he can’t understand how they actually think that this is beneficial. It just gets him into messes like the one he’s in now with Ali. Desperate, he tries to reach out to her one last time.

_ Charlie _: Listen, I know you’re mad at me. But can we please talk? Like in person? Are you free to have dinner sometime this week?

_ Ali 💜 _: Fine, we can talk in person. But not over dinner, that sounds too much like a date

Okay, so she definitely wants to break up.

_ Charlie _: Okay. Come over to my house?

_ Ali 💜 _: I guess. I’ll be there in 15

_ Charlie _: Ok

Charlie’s heart is racing. Although it’s not as bad as getting lectured by his parents, getting yelled at by Ali isn’t exactly fun, and she’s never been this mad before. The thing that made it more bearable is that she’d always apologized for her outbursts, like a real, genuine apology, and would promise to get better, which she actually did over time. Well, Charlie had thought, anyway, but at this moment in time, Charlie would rather be a ref alone in a room with Tortorella after a making a blown call than in his own house.

After fifteen minutes, which seemed more like fifteen hours, Charlie gets a knock on his door. He cautiously opens the door and is met with what looks like an emotionless husk of what used to be his girlfriend. He steps aside to let her in, aware of every move his body makes as if he’s going to set off some sort of laser-activated security system. She doesn’t say anything after Charlie closes the door, so he assumes that he’s going to have to be the one to break the ice.

“Ali, it’s obvious that I did something wrong, but I honestly have no idea what it is. I’m sorry if I hurt you somehow, I had no intention of—”

“You don’t know what you did!? How can you not know, oh that is _ disgusting _!” Ali yells, cutting him off, seeming as grossed out as if she had stepped in dog shit.

“I—what? I didn’t even, what the hell did I do to you?” Charlie yells back defensively.

“It’s not something you did to _ me _, it’s just something you did in general,” she snarls.

“Can you please just tell me what I did?” Charlie snaps, abandoning any sliver of hope that this relationship could still survive.

“I seriously cannot believe you don’t know what you did! You’ve… how many times have you done it now? Five? You’ve kissed Jake five times! And—”

Charlie bursts out laughing. She’s jealous, she’s actually _ jealous _ of Jake Fucking DeBrusk, for doing these stupid-ass mini-skits for a fucking _ meme _ . Not that he wouldn’t mind dating Jake; in fact, at this point Charlie’s pretty sure he’d rather date Jake than Ali, but to actually be jealous over something as stupid as this? Charlie just thought she’d think it’s immature, or maybe even say that it’s not right since he and Jake aren’t actually dating, but _ this _? Oh, this is too much.

“You… you actually think… you’re actually jealous of Jake!?” Charlie wheezes out through his laughter.

“Wha—jealous! JEALOUS! You think I’m JEALOUS! I could never be jealous of a man because men are NOT supposed to love each other! That’s the whole problem here, you’ve been making it some big joke, but it’s morally wrong!” Ali screams at the top of her lungs.

The smile immediately drops from Charlie’s face, and the room goes completely quiet for a few seconds. “You’re a fucking homophobe,” he whispers through clenched teeth.

“I’m _ what _?” Ali asks, sharply.

“YOU’RE A HOMOPHOBE! I SAID YOU’RE A FUCKING HOMOPHOBE, YOU DISGUSTING, HEARTLESS, IGNORANT MONSTER!” Charlie screams louder than he ever has in his life. He’s definitely not going to have a voice tomorrow.

“Apparently, I'm the only one on this earth that has a good set of morals anymore! Unbelievable, your parents are such amazing people, and they have such high opinions of you, it’s a pity they had to waste so much time on a hopeless case like _ you _!”

“You think my parents are amazing!? That they have high opinions of me!? All they ever do is tell me everything they think is wrong with me, and all they want is to have their idea of a ‘perfect son,’ they don’t actually care about me! They don’t care if I’m happy or not!”

“You’re just being dramatic, life isn’t just about getting what you want!”

That just about does it for Charlie. He can’t stand to have this girl in his house anymore. A few moments of incredibly tense silence follow while Charlie glares at Ali with a hatred he previously thought was reserved for his parents. “Get. Out. Now.” 

“Fine. You’re hopeless anyway,” Ali says as she makes her way out the door much slower than he would like. He slams the door as hard as he can and then starts pacing back and forth to try and cool his temper. But once he’s calmed down a bit, Charlie realizes that he’s actually pretty hurt. Ali had brought up some painful stuff with his parents, and to make it worse, she actually sided with them. Now there are at least three people who think that he’s a failure and a waste of space, fantastic. Needing to vent to someone, Charlie finds himself pressing the button on his phone to call Jake. Luckily, he picks up almost immediately.

“Hey, bud, what’s up?” Jake asks, blissfully unaware of Charlie’s sour mood.

“Ugh,” Charlie sighs heavily, “I need to talk to someone. Do you mind if I come over?”

“No, not at all. Everything okay?” Jake asks, concerned.

“Yeah just… I’ll tell you when I get there.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, Charlie arrives at Jake’s place and thanks the universe that he’s actually free right now.

“Hey man, you alright?” Jake asks after they both take a seat on his living room sofa.

“Not exactly. Well, I guess I’m fine, but I just broke up with Ali.”

“Oh, sorry man, that sucks,” Jake replies, genuinely.

“No, that’s good, because it turns out that she’s like, extremely homophobic. We just had a blowout screaming fight, and my throat hurts. Along with my pride,” Charlie jokes, trying to mask the pain.

“Oh my God, are you sure you’re okay?” Jake asks, now very worried.

“Yeah, I mean, she did say some really hurtful stuff, like she said that my parents did everything right and I’m just a screw-up and a waste of their time. But it’s also just kind of sickening to know that I’ve been dating someone so homophobic all this time, especially since I’m not even straight,” Charlie blurts out before he can process what he just said.

“Oh, I mean, yeah, that makes sense,” Jake replies, clearly taken aback by Charlie’s confession.

“Oh shit, I totally just said that out loud, are you cool with… you know… me?” Charlie asks, already knowing that Jake will say yes.

“Oh my God, of course I am, not everyone is like your girlfriend. Or, ex-girlfriend, sorry.”

“Thanks, dude. Oh, and please don’t tell anyone about the whole not-straight thing, I’d rather tell people myself. You know, eventually,” Charlie adds.

“You got it, not a word.”

“Thanks.”

“But, if you don’t mind me asking,” Jake starts, hesitantly, “how did you find out that she was homophobic in the first place?”

“Oh, well, she’d been refusing to talk with me face-to-face for like, a month now—”

“Wait, she was _ still _mad from whatever you did before?” Jake interrupts.

“Yeah, but apparently it was because of something I did multiple times. And that something was apparently the damn kiss-cam meme.”

Jake goes quiet and blushes a bit. “Dude, seriously?”

“Dead serious.” Charlie chuckles a bit. “At first I thought she was jealous of you, and I laughed at her pretty hard.”

“Well way to pour gasoline on a bonfire, Charlie,” Jake says, laughing with Charlie.

“I know, I know, I just couldn’t help myself. And I mean, she didn’t end up being jealous, she was just pissed in general, but could you imagine if she was? That would be hilarious.”

“What’s so hilarious about dating me?” Jake asks, fake offended.

Charlie stares at Jake with an ‘are you kidding me’ expression on his face. “It was a fucking meme, Jake.”

“So?”

“Eh, I guess I would rather date you than her,” Charlie replies.

“Gee, thanks.” Jake tries to hide the fact that part of him took that as a genuine compliment.

They continue to talk for a few more minutes, and Charlie finds himself gradually feeling better as time goes on. He ends up spending the whole day with Jake until he forces himself to go back home. 

But after he leaves, Jake notices something, more specifically, a feeling. It’s the same feeling from before, that weird warm-nervous-excited one that he can’t place. Without thinking, he lets his mind wander back to the conversation he had with Charlie earlier that day. He had said that he’d rather date Jake than Ali, and he probably meant it since he’s genuinely not straight. But what if he and Jake were to date for real? What would it feel like? For some reason, Jake can’t stop imagining it; he and Charlie, sightseeing in the city of Boston even though they’ve already explored every inch of the city, holding hands, pressed up against each other to ease the discomfort of the cold air seeping into their bones. Charlie’s cheeks and nose would be dusted red, and his lips would be dry, but Jake would kiss him anyway, and neither of them would be able to stop smiling enough for it to really count as a kiss. It’s alarmingly easy for Jake to picture this fantasy, and what’s even more alarming is how much he’s enjoying thinking about Charlie this way. That feeling, the one he has now, the one he had during the games when they did the kiss-cam thing, it couldn’t be… he can’t actually have feelings for Charlie, can he? 

No, he has a girlfriend. An amazing girlfriend, might he add. She never gets jealous or irrationally angry, and always manages to put a smile on Jake’s face.

But she doesn’t give him the warm-nervous-excited feeling.

Jake feels a bit sick on the inside, sick with guilt and regret. He really does like Gabby, but now that he thinks about it, maybe he’s just liked her as a friend all this time. She doesn’t give him the same feeling that Charlie does; no one ever has before. Thinking about kissing Gabby doesn’t do nearly as much to him as thinking about kissing Charlie. He has to tell her; as much as he doesn’t want to, he’s got to come clean.

_ Jake _: Hey Gabby, we need to talk

_ Gabby _: Is something wrong?

_ Jake _: Kind of. It’s nothing that you did, I promise, but I need to tell you something

_ Jake _: I’m so sorry

_ Gabby _: What are you sorry about?

_ Jake _: I have to tell you in person. Can we talk at your place?

_ Gabby _: Sure, when will you be here?

_ Jake _: I was hoping in just a few minutes. Is that okay? I know it’s short notice

_ Gabby _: That’s totally fine. See you in a few

_ Jake _: See you

Jake grabs his keys with shaky hands and drives over to Gabby’s place. The guilt feels like battery acid that’s corroding his insides away. He knows he can’t help how he feels, but he should’ve realized sooner that he was just friends with Gabby. And now he has to break her heart.

Jake takes a deep breath and knocks on Gabby’s door. He must look as bad as he feels because she looks concerned as soon as she opens the door.

“Jake, is everything okay?” she asks as Jake forces himself to enter her apartment.

“I…” is all he can say before his throat closes up. His eyes sting as they begin to well up with tears. Gabby is nice enough to help walk him to the kitchen so he can sit down on one of the stools.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, take your time,” she reassures. It just makes Jake feel more guilty about having to break things off.

“S-so, you know about t-the whole thing with… with…” he pauses, not wanting to finish his sentence. 

“With what?” Gabby asks, a tinge of confusion in her voice. Jake knows he just has to blurt it out so he doesn’t make it even worse.

“I’minlovewithCharlie,” he whispers, not enunciating his words enough for Gabby to understand.

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear—”

“I’M IN LOVE WITH CHARLIE” Jake interrupts, shouting this time. He instantly regrets it once he sees the look on Gabby’s face.

“O-oh, I mean, thanks for telling me, I—”

“I’m so sorry, Gabby,” Jake says, his throat closing up once again. “I feel horrible about it, I don’t even know how it happened.” There are a few seconds of silence. Or minutes, or hours, Jake can’t really tell. “Are you okay?” he finally asks.

Gabby looks at him and gives him a pained smile. “I mean, yeah. Like, it hurts, but I’m not mad at you or anything. You did the right thing by telling me.” Jake is so glad that she’s not crazy like Charlie’s ex. “But, can I ask… how did you figure that out? Was it the whole… you know… thing with the kiss-cam?”

Jake laughs awkwardly. “Uh… well, not exactly, but kind of… indirectly, I guess. Like, Charlie’s girlfriend was apparently super pissed that we were doing that because she’s super homophobic, and Charlie was just kind of venting to me about it and he said… well, he said… something, I can’t tell you what it was, but it got me thinking, and I guess that’s when I realized. I don’t know how long I’ve actually had feelings for him, it’s kind of hard to tell, but… yeah.” Gabby slowly nods her head. “And I mean, I like you a lot, which is I guess another reason I didn’t really notice. But I kind of realized that I love you as a friend, not as my girlfriend. I mean, I’m sure you don’t want to be my friend now, but—”

“Jake, I would love to be your friend. I just need some time to, you know, process.” Gabby gives him a small but genuine smile.

“Yeah,” he replies, reciprocating the smile. “Thanks, that means a lot.”

* * *

Not far away, Charlie is lying face-down on his bed. He feels a whole lot better than he did earlier in the day, but no amount of venting to Jake could completely erase the cocktail of emotions in his gut that makes him feel fifty pounds heavier than normal. He’s pissed, insulted, and confused, but there’s something else going on that makes him feel like he ate a lead pipe that Charlie can’t seem to figure out. More than anything else, he just wants to stay over at Jake’s place and talk all night long. He wants to share the same blanket as they curl up on the couch together, just saying whatever thought pops into their heads. He wants to rest his head on Jake’s shoulder as Jake cards his fingers through his hair and presses a soft kiss to his temple… 

Oh.

This thought causes Charlie to figure out the cause of the mysterious feeling that’s weighing him down.

He’s lonely. Very, very lonely. And Jake is the only person in the world who can make him feel like a whole person right now. Charlie decides to call him to ask if it’s okay if he stays over.

Jake doesn’t pick up. It goes to his voicemail.

“_ Hey! You’ve reached Jake’s phone, sorry I wasn’t there to answer it. Leave a message, and I’ll call you back as soon as I get the chance. Thanks! _”

Charlie takes a deep breath. “Hey.” He pauses, unable to think of the right words to say. “I’m kind of having a rough night, call me back when you can. Sorry to bother you,” he says before hanging up and sighing in defeat. Luckily, he gets a call back from Jake not even thirty seconds later.

“Hey Chuck, you doing okay? I got your message.” Jake’s voice sounds shaky and broken.

“Are _ you _? You don’t sound so great—no offense.” 

“Let’s just say I’m kind of having a rough night, too,” Jake responds with a weak laugh.

“Wanna have a shitty night together?” Charlie asks.

There’s a pause before Jake answers. “Yeah okay, sure.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you’ve already had to put up with me all day,” Charlie jokes half-heartedly.

“No no, it’s fine. I want to. And I didn’t have to put up with anything, I like hanging out with you.” That’s probably the understatement of the century for Jake.

“Thanks. I’ll be right over,” Charlie says as he walks into his bedroom to grab a coat. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

The drive to Jake’s apartment is freezing, like the type of freezing that even makes your soul cold and tired. Charlie has a coat, and his heater is on full blast, but he just can’t seem to get warm; it’s like he’s cold from the inside out.

The feeling starts to subside when he hears Jake unlock his door. He looks just as worn out as Charlie feels as he lethargically closes the door behind them..

Charlie’s body decides to move on its own and pull Jake in for a hug. His soul thaws out even more. This, he feels, is where he’s supposed to be. But when he pulls away, Jake’s soul doesn’t look like it’s thawed at all. He looks like he got buried in an avalanche but gave up trying to dig himself out and decided to go to sleep instead.

“Jake,” Charlie starts slowly, “are you sure you’re okay?”

Jake lets out a big sigh. “I just broke up with my girlfriend, too,” he says, smiling painfully at the irony of the situation. Charlie’s face falls and his eyes fill with concern.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Jake,” Charlie says as he pulls Jake into another, tighter hug. He hears Jake start to cry softly into his shoulder, so he stays where he is and runs his fingers through Jake’s hair comfortingly. “I’m so sorry,” he repeats, softly. They stay like that for another couple minutes until Jake lifts his head off his shoulder to look Charlie in the eye. His eyes are all puffy and red, and his cheeks are blotchy, but Charlie can’t imagine anyone more beautiful than Jake at this moment in time. “Do you want to talk about anything?” he asks.

Jake nods his head. “Yeah, that would be nice,” he says. He motions for Charlie to follow him to his bedroom to talk.

“So what happened?” Charlie asks after they’ve gotten settled on the bed.

“Well,” Jake pauses and sighs, thinking about what he wants to say, “I broke up with her because I don’t think I like her as more than just a friend, and I guess I felt like that was the right thing to do.”

“It was,” Charlie agrees. “It wouldn’t be fair to either of you if you didn’t say anything.”

“I know, but that didn’t make it any easier,” Jake continues. “I felt horrible for hurting her, especially since she’s such an amazing person. She deserved a much better ending than she got.” Jake’s eyes droop down to the floor in front of them.

“I’m sure she understood. But I get that… it sucks to have to hurt the ones you care about to avoid hurting them even more. It feels like you can’t win.”

“Yeah.”

Charlie moves closer to Jake and slings an arm around his shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay, I promise.”

Jake looks up from the floor and gives Charlie a warm smile. “Thanks.”

Their eyes lock, and neither of them seem to have the strength to look away. They sit and stare into each other’s eyes for what feels like forever before Charlie realizes that he’s starting to lean forward. 

And Jake is, too.

Their mouths slot together and for just a few seconds, all is right in the world. Neither of them try to pull away, they just keep kissing, soft and unhurried. When they finally separate, nobody seems to know what to say, or even how to react. Charlie decides to kiss Jake again, a bit harder this time, just to show that he meant it. Apparently that was the right decision, because he can feel the tension in Jake’s shoulders starting to melt away. Eventually, they have to separate to breathe, and they stare at each other with unreadable expressions as they pant to catch their breath. Charlie is the first one to break the ice.

“What was that?” he asks, trying to keep his tone as light and soft as possible. Jake goes red anyway.

“I… don’t know.” Jake’s lips are all red and shiny, and Charlie can’t seem to keep his eyes off them. “Did… did you… like it?” Jake asks, tentatively.

“Yeah.” The loneliness Charlie had felt before has grown into longing, longing for Jake in a way that he’s never felt for anyone before. “Yeah, I liked it. A lot, actually, I just… it’s a lot. I’m kind of confused” Jake’s face falls as Charlie says that.

“Oh, yeah,” Jake lets out a nervous chuckle, “sorry, I kind of just… did that, didn’t I?” Jake laughs in a way that’s borderline crying, and he’s clearly extremely nervous.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, just breathe,” Charlie reassures. He honestly has no idea what’s going on right now, and he doesn’t have a clue what to say to make Jake feel better. “What do you need me to do?” he asks.

Jake lets out another nervous laugh. “No… you couldn’t… I’m so sorry.” He pauses, trying to gather his thoughts to formulate a sentence that actually makes sense. “I don’t think we should do this fake-dating thing anymore. Like the thing with the kiss-cam.” Charlie is sort of taken aback by that, considering that Jake was literally kissing him a few minutes before. Then it dawns on him, Jake just broke up with his girlfriend, he’s probably just lonely, but not in the same way that Charlie is. He would’ve kissed anyone; it didn’t have to be Charlie, and that thought hurts. A lot.

“Oh, okay.” He pauses, desperately searching for a clue of what to do hidden in Jake’s expression, but he finds nothing. “You know I would do anything for you, right?”

Jake smiles, genuinely. “I know. Thank you.” He looks down, his smile fading, and once again begins to softly cry, causing Charlie to wrap him in a hug.

“Jake,” he asks, his voice impossibly quiet. “I’m sorry about you and Gabby?” Jake pulls back, clearly puzzled, so Charlie decides to elaborate, though he doesn’t know why Jake looks confused. “I mean, you two broke up, right, and you just… you look so sad.” Jake’s gaze falls to the floor again, and Charlie figures that there’s something else that he’s missing. “Did something else happen?”

Jake silently nods his head, his eyes starting to well up with tears again. “Yeah. And it’s… it’s not just about Gabby.” He pauses, drawing in a shaky breath. “It’s about you.”

“Me?” Charlie asks. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, God, of course not. Charlie, you didn’t do anything wrong, I just…” Jake pauses, laughing a little, “I think the kiss-cam meme made me catch actual feelings. For you.”

Charlie is overwhelmed by the feeling of fondness that washes over him. He practically tackles Jake in a bone-crushing hug.

“Dude, you fuckin’ scared me!” Charlie says once he lets Jake go. He has a smile plastered across his face. “I think I have a thing for you, too.”

Jake’s eyes go wide for a second before he also cracks a smile. “Yeah?” he asks.

“Yeah.” They’re both grinning like idiots at this point, and Jake decides that the best thing to do at that moment is to kiss Charlie again. It’s not a very good kiss since their teeth keep knocking together as a result of them smiling so much, but neither of them can be bothered to care.

“We should totally do that for the kiss-cam,” Jake says. “The guys would go fucking nuts.”

Charlie laughs at the thought of the guys losing their shit after the two of them actually kiss in front of everyone. “Yeah but I don’t really feel like getting murdered by PR when they see us publicly come out with no warning,” he responds.

“I mean, no one would really know it’s real. They all just think it’s a meme.” It’s technically a good point, and it causes Charlie to ponder whether or not he would really do that, but he decides against it.

“I think if I ever kiss you in public again I want people to know it’s real,” he says. “It feels weird like… hiding behind a meme, if that makes any sense.”

Jake smiles understandingly. “Sounds good.” He pauses for a minute, shifting his weight around nervously. “So… does this mean that we’re dating?” he asks, a little hesitantly.

“Yeah, I think it does,” Charlie replies, slinging an arm around his new boyfriend’s shoulder. Jake still looks a little unsure of himself.

“You don’t think that it’s like… a bad idea or anything? With us being teammates and all?”

“I think we’re mature enough to deal with it.” Charlie reassuringly draws small circles on Jake’s shoulder with his thumb. “We’ll be alright.”

“What about your parents?” Jake hates to be the one asking this question, especially when he sees the way Charlie’s face falls.

“I don’t know. I haven’t even talked to them about Ali yet.” Jake pulls him into a proper hug, trying his best to not feel guilty for bringing this up.

“Are they… you know… homophobic?” he asks, quietly, as if the volume of his voice somehow has an impact on how much it hurts for Charlie to think about his parents.

“Not in a moralistic sense, I don’t think, but they hate everything that breaks the status quo or is non-conformist so I’m assuming they won’t be too thrilled about, you know, us.”

“Fuck them,” Jake mutters under his breath, but not quietly enough for Charlie not to hear, and he starts laughing. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t, I mean, those are your parents—”

“No, I agree with you. Fuck them and their shitty ideals, I can date who I want.” Charlie says, confidently. 

Jake laughs and leans his head into Charlie’s shoulder. “I’m glad I can kiss you for real now,” he says, turning his head to look up at Charlie.

“Me too,” Charlie replies before closing the gap between them. 

Yeah, everything is going to be alright.


End file.
